There were a lot of delightful tributes to our former Ambassador of Children’s Literature earlier this month, but my favorite was Book, Booker Bookest on learning how to spell Scieszka. (Which, I’m proud to say, I can do without looking!) Also check out a collection of his video highlights at Fuse #8.

Even before the most recent cover controversy really got going, there were a couple of very thoughtful posts going up around the blogosphere about the representation of people of color in kids and YA lit. I would especially recommend Chasing Ray’s post Demand Diversity in Publishing and Reading in Color’s post on people of color in historical novels.

A really wonderful story from Carol’s Corner about two things you might not think go together: promoting reading and lowriders. These are the moments that make it worth doing.

On Booklist, Anastasia Suen shares a list of early chapter books and easy readers featuring multicultural characters. I definitely plan to add some of these to my collection – the ones we have are constantly in use.

Maureen Johnson tries to kill Printz-winner Libba Bray, using an unexpected method. And if that’s not enough Libba-Bray-awesomeness for you, read her post on winning the Printz.

The Coretta Scott King award overwhelmingly goes to repeat winners, with over 60% of the illustrator awards going to the same 11 people. And while this is definitely an issue that the CSK committee needs to look at, it’s as much of a message for publishers. Where are the new authors and illustrators of color?

Questionable Content takes on the YA novel. That’s right, Jimbo has moved on from romance novels to “vampire steampunk young adult romance.” If you tell me you wouldn’t read it, you’re clearly lying. And also on the webcomics front, Jon from Garfield without Garfield provides a moment of library-related pathos.

Kristin Cashore shares a few conversations with her Korean translator. I love getting glimpses into the process of things like this.

The National Education Association and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center have published a list of 50 multicultural books that every child should read, split into several age levels. A lot of wonderful things on here – and I look forward to discovering some that are new to me. (Hat tip to Neesha Meminger, who points out that this list is in no way complete and suggest some important additions.)

Shannon Hale has shared some really wonderful thoughts about book reviews, and particularly the practice of rating books. She ends her post with some great questions that every book blogger should put some thought into.

I think we can all agree that watching a really long dominoes formation go tumbling down is one of life’s true pleasures. How ’bout when it’s made entirely out of children’s books? Three cheers to HarperCollins Children’s UK. (Hat tip to 100 Scope Notes)

There’s been a some good discussion recently on white authors writing characters of color. I think it started over at Justine Larbalestier’s blog, and as usual she has a great no-nonsense take. After reading Justine’s post, take a look at this thoughtful response from Neesha Meminger.

The kidlit blogs have been buzzing in response to the FTC’s new endorsement guidelines, and Edrants explores some of the issues that the guidelines bring up with Richard Cleland of the FTC in this post. This is an important post for anyone who accepts ARCs for review, or uses a program like Amazon Affiliates. (Hat tip to A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy) Chasing Ray has also had consistently good questions and frustrations about the FTC policy.

I have loved Awful Library Books from their inception, but this is the winner. I am finding that book. Then I’m going to memorize it and be as cool as that guy. But maybe not as awesome.

A brilliant idea for library orientations. I am stealing this big time.

I really enjoy Barry Lyga’s “Writing Advice” posts, and the recent ones on writing good dialogue were useful AND funny. These are a great resource for teen writers.

Glimpses into a writer’s process are always completely fascinating to me. R.L. LaFevers shares pictures of her many different outlining and note-taking styles here. She uses three different sizes of graph paper!

The Book Aunt has another wonderful post on getting reluctant readers hooked on books. Her insights are always worth a look.

Adrienne Kress on YA lit, the difference between YA and Middle Grade, and what you can write about in a YA book. Her answer: anything! Good answer.

I love love love Chasing Ray’s What a Girl Wants series, and I especially love her post on Representing All the Girls. All of the contributing writers share some really insightful thoughts. Take a look, too, at Lisa Chellman’s response, where she talks about writing from perspectives other than our own.

When Cheryl has tips for improving your writing, it’s almost always worth a listen. This post on strengthening the emotional impact of your story is no exception.

How do writers get the parents out of the way so that kids can take charge? How might that impact child readers? The Spectacle takes a look.

One more reason to shop at independent book stores – in hilarious video form!

There have been some great discussions going on lately about reading as a social activity, starting over at Booklights. I really loved hearing the stories shared at The Reading Zone on how social reading made a huge difference in her classroom.

Patrick Ness has shared a new short story that describes Viola’s experiences before The Knife of Never Letting Go begins. This has got me all excited about The Ask and the Answer!

I’ve been enjoying Abby’s series on what librarians wish patrons knew about the library. My favorite is this one on storytimes.

The New York Times gives a little insight into how the best-seller list works, and what being on the list can do for a book or author.

Love this article about the use of filtering and blocking software in schools and libraries. The answer is not to block access to information. The answer is to be an educator.

Neesha Meminger shares her thoughts on how the gender of an author affects a book’s cover, particularly in terms of books by South Asian women.

Turns out Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day translates well to twitter. Made me giggle.

Booklights has a wonderful post up on the page design in Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.

You’ve probably all seen this Wall Street Journal article on YA lit’s “new” dark side by now. There have been plenty of thoughtful reactions to the article, but my favorite was probably from the one and only Meg Cabot. She has a lot to say about why kids choose to read what they do – and why she chooses to write what she does. There are a lot of kinds of books for teens out there, and we need all kinds.

A YA author teaching how to throw a knuckleball? This video couldn’t be any more up my alley. Unless maybe Michael Northrop was also baking a pie. The money quote: “The knuckleball, like so many things in life, is all about letting go.”

Chasing Ray is putting together a One Shot focused on Southeast Asia. I’m in!

Study shows that high-achieving African-American children watch a similar amount of t.v. as other African-American children. However, they engage in more active reasoning with the media they consume. Of course it’s difficult to tell whether it’s the reasoning leading to the achievement or the other way around, but still a really interesting study. (Hat tip to SLJ)

R.L. LaFevers has another good blog post on the process of writing. This one looks at structures, and gets into how some famous picture books are great examples of good story structure.

I hope everybody’s read Jack Gantos’ wonderful piece in the latest Horn Book. Just in case you missed it, take a look: Book and Bar Man.

I’m delighted to hear that Carrie Ryan’s awesome debut zombie novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, is on it’s way to becoming a movie. That’s got potential.

SLJ had a great article on board games as a learning tool. I participated in a really fun training on exactly this a few months ago, and I was blown away by the educational possibilities in some of the new board games that are out there. I think this is an underutilized resource – what kid doesn’t enjoy board games? I’ve been pushing my afternoon homework helpers to break out these types of games when the kids are finished with their homework – it’s great for building relationships, and turns out it can teach something too!

Rick Riordan shares some experiences from on the set of the upcoming Percy Jackson movie.

A new blog that’s been popping up everywhere: Worst Review Ever. That’s some serious schadenfreude right there. I love it.

Good discussion going on at ACRLog about explaining authorities to students. It’s not easy to do well, and it makes such a difference when students have a firm grasp on what authorities are and why they’re important. Anyone have great ideas to add?

I haven’t had a chance to read all the way through this one yet, but Urban Library Journal has an article on providing library services to homeless children that includes information about some really interesting existing programs. The article points out that families with children are one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless populations. Always great to hear about innovative work on important subjects like this one.

Have I mentioned yet how excited I am to see Coraline the Musical on Saturday night? Well I am. Really really really. Also, Neil Gaiman tweeted his reaction to the dress rehearsal earlier tonight: it’s got the official Gaiman seal of approval!